201901.09
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About 70 Marines and sailors land on Catalina Island to begin airport runway repair project

by in News

  • A veiw approaching the runway at the “airport in the sky” on Catalina Island. (Courtesy Catalina Island Conservancy)

  • U.S. Marines and Navy personnel arrive at the airport on Catalina Island with 500 tons of equipment and tools to repair the main runway during the week of Dec. 17. (Courtesy Catalina Island Conservancy)

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  • The view overlooking Avalon Bay from The Inn on Mt Ada, once the home of William Wrigley Jr. and his wife Ada, in Avalon on Catalina Island. (Fire photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Catalina Airport. (Courtesy Catalina Island Conservancy)

  • Marines and sailors arrive on Catalina Island to begin work on airport runway project. (Courtesy Catalina Island Conservancy)

  • U.S. Marines and Navy personnel arrive at the airport on Catalina Island with 500 tons of equipment and tools to repair the main runway during the week of Dec. 17. (Courtesy Catalina Island Conservancy)

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CATALINA ISLAND — About 70 Marines and sailors arrived via helicopters on Wednesday, Jan. 9, to begin work on repairing the 77-year-old cracked and decaying main runway at Catalina Island’s Airport in the Sky. The troops joined 30 other Marines and sailors already on the island.

An encampment that includes housing, food service, hygiene and medical facilities has been set up at the airport. To prepare for the project, the military shipped 500 tons of equipment, vehicles and supplies to the island in December.

The $5 million restoration project — a complete repair of the 3,000-foot-long, 60-foot-wide runway — is a collaboration between the Catalina Island Conservancy and the U.S. military. The partnership is part of the Department of Defense’s Innovative Readiness Training Program, which matches community needs with military training opportunities.

“We were so pleased to welcome these amazing young men and women to the Island, and we appreciate their can-do spirit about tackling this task,” said Tony Budrovich, Catalina Island Conservancy president and CEO. “The airport was at risk of closure because of the condition of the runway. This innovative partnership with the Marines and Navy will ensure the airport can remain open another 75 to 100 years, while also providing a training opportunity to prepare the troops for deployment on islands and other remote locations to build or repair airports and other infrastructure.”

Marines and sailors will work six days a week and rotate on and off the island over the course of the project. Completion is expected by the end of March.